“We’ve continued to track these new variants as they emerge,” Dr. Mary Rodgers, principal scientist and head of infectious disease research at Abbott, told ABC News. “We’ve been bringing in samples to confirm our prediction based on the sequences, which indicate that there’s no cause for concern for any of our Abbott tests.”
Public health experts argue that such concerns from the federal government are legitimate and should compel testing companies to continue evaluating whether their tests are able to detect variants that are not yet on their radar.In a statement on the new coronavirus strains, Abbott also said, “it is highly likely that future COVID-19 strains will remain detectable because we design our tests to be robust, knowing that virus mutations will naturally occur over time.
The steady spread of several new coronavirus strains worldwide has kept even Biden administration officials on high alert in terms of the federal government’s approach to the pandemic. One concern is that as the virus mutates, it grows more transmissible and potentially more deadly. Preventing new aggressive strains from spreading is a priority, U.S. officials say, although the public health system hasn’t been able to keep up.